Tell Me Something Tuesday

Welcome to my weekly meme Tell Me Something Tuesday where I ask you something and you tell me the answer!! It’s as simple as that and I thought it would be a great way for all of us bloggers to get to know one another! So this is how it works: I post a question here on my blog and then i give my answer. I invite all the bloggers to take the question and post it on their blog with their answer and we can hop around and see what everyone says! If you are a blogger don’t forget to leave your link at the bottom of this post! If you aren’t a blogger – that’s okay too!! Leave your answer in the comments section!

 

 Tell Me Something:                                      

How do you feel about negative book reviews? Writing them and reading them…

My answer:

You know this is something I have always thought about even before I started writing. Negative reviews don’t just affect writers but the bloggers and reviewers as well.

It seems that lately I have been hearing a lot about this subject so this week’s question fits in well with my recent thoughts. Just during the past few days I have been hearing (through social media) about some bad behaving authors who have taken offense to a review about their book, or gotten upset over giving a review copy away and then not getting a review. I’ve been hearing about blacklists created by authors who out reviewers and bloggers and I’ve been hearing about deleted blogs and upset all around.

I like to stay far away from these kinds of things (guess I’m kind of giving my 2 cents though right now – huh?) because one: I don’t like drama and two: I don’t want any reviewer/blogger/fan to associate me as one of those authors that would rudely cut down someone else.

When I first posted this question I was mainly thinking of how I feel as an author reading a negative review on something I have written. I was thinking about how I dealt with that and wondering what others thought when they saw a negative review. Then I started hearing all these rumblings about bad behaving authors and the question kind of took on a whole new meaning.

So. What I have to say is this:

As an author I don’t expect everyone to like what I write. I know that some people aren’t going to like it and that’s okay. I can’t have everything (what a shame isn’t it?) say “5Stars” and “Genius!” that just isn’t going to happen. Reading is subjective – I honestly think that everyone gets something unique from reading. Everyone has different experienced, different backgrounds and beliefs so assuming that everyone will have the same wondrous opinion about something is not very bright.

That being said, I respect negative reviews and the right someone has to their opinion. What I don’t like is badgering, belittling and name calling. Personally, I detest when someone says they want to punch my characters (yes this has happened and I was very unhappy, lol) but not once have I gone to social media to complain. Not once have I challenged another person for their opinion. I got this one heinous review where the reviewer went on and on about how much she hated Masquerade and how she couldn’t even read it… but boy her review went on and on to the point that she actually apologized to me in the review. I thought that was unfair  – that I was getting judged on a quarter of the book. But I kept my mouth shut.

Now, that’s not to say I haven’t vented to my husband because I have but that was in private.

Sometimes I find it’s easier to not read the reviews at all.

Anywhoo, I think negative reviews can sometimes be helpful. I don’t think there is anything wrong with a negative review if they back up the reasons they don’t like the book and give examples. It might even help some readers decide if a book is right for them or not. I usually pay no attention to the reviews that say “This book was awful, I didn’t like it.” If they can’ bother to elaborate then I can’t bother to listen to them. LOL.

As far as this thing that seems to be going on between authors and bloggers/reviewers. I think that authors should respect a reviewers time and realize they get pounded with requests non stop. I have given away review copies and not seen a review from a few people, I almost feel like that’s the way it goes. Does it thrill me? No. But that’s the business. I also feel like if a reviewer reads a book and really can’t get through it or really has nothing good to say then they shouldn’t write the review – they should get a pass on that.  I also think reviewers should keep in mind that they are reading someone’s dream, someone’s child. A tremendous amount of work goes into writing a book and it can be hard to give it out and then get nothing in return. Those people that write those bashing reviews – my honest opinion about them is that they must not know what it’s like to have a dream, because if they did they certainly wouldn’t belittle or take away someone else’s dream with words that are only hurtful.

Have I written a negative review? Yes. I don’t like too, but sometimes my opinion is my opinion and I always state what I did like about the book and then say what didn’t work for me and I always give a reason.

I guess what I am trying to say here is that I think there is room for negative reviews in the literary world as long as they are written with respect.

And that’s all I have to say about that. I will now go back to trying to stay out of it. LOL.

So tell me what you think about negative reviews.

Grab next week’s Question:

We are going to do another fun round of would you rather. We had a ton of fun with it last week so let’s do it again! Here are your questions:

Would you rather be a giant hamster or a tiny rhino?

Would you rather always wear earmuffs or a nose plug?

Would you rather always win pie-eating contests or always win wheelbarrow races?

Don’t forget to link up!